one year a widow
by eisa
Summary: sequel to the last few days together. Ron has been gone a year how is hermione coping.


"ONE YEAR A WIDOW"  
  
Again I own nothing at all. I am so poor it's not even funny now!! This is a sequel to THE LAST FEW DAYS TOGETHER. I suggest you read it first if you want to know what is going on here.  
  
("I'll come back. I'll fight my way through hell to come back." He said as he kissed her cheeks. He held his wife for as long as possible until he really had to go.  
  
"Ron please be careful." She called as he left the room. When the door closed and she was left alone she fell to her knees and wept there for hours. He was gone from her.)  
  
Hermione Granger-Weasley plaited her bushy brown hair and sighed as she looked at her reflection, she was thin, much thinner then she had ever been, but the waiting and the searching took a lot out of her. She turned the light off and went to the small sparsely furnished living room where she lived, she smiled at the ginger bow legged cat that rubbed along her legs purring loudly. She picked up Crookshanks and scratched behind the cat's ear, she wandered aimlessly around the small flat where she lived, or as her parents said she simply existed, yes she had died when he left. A picture sat on the desk which was piled high with sheets of paper where reported sightings of the man she loved; it was of her smiling and in his arms on their wedding day, they had been so happy but yet they had known how brief their time may be.  
  
Ron Weasley had been now missing nearly a year, two hundred and eighty five days to be exact. Hermione had lived the widow's life almost a year counting the days since she had last seen him. He had gone to the war only two days after they had been married. She had never doubted that he was alive and fighting his way back to her. He was never one to go silently and until she saw and held him dead in her arms she would never believe he was dead. Others were not so optimistic. Harry and Ginny had pretty much given up hope in her eyes. But they had each other to love. Hermione looked at them with joy and a certain bit of jealousy. Harry had married Ginny after she had got her draft letter. Hermione had cried with Mrs Weasley when Ginny had been drafted. It was so unfair, Molly had already lost three sons to the war, how could the ministry call her only daughter to the fight. Ginny went a week after the wedding, the new famous Mrs Potter. She had vanished for three months, but she was the only one to come back. Over a hundred witches and wizards had been drafted to fight the dark side but Ginny was the only one to ever come back, making the Potter's even more famous, he was the boy that lived, she was the woman that lived. Hermione had been happy to get her friend back, but she couldn't see why Ginny had made it back and Ron hadn't.  
  
Hermione opened the door to her office and flopped into the chair as she flipped through her inbox. She had started working in the ministry as a war officer, it was her job to search and determine whether those sent were living or dead, so far she had found twenty six dead and the remaining eighty one were still missing. Bill and Ron Weasley were the two most searched for as it was rumoured that the missions they had been sent on were ones of top priority and it needed to be determined how their missions had gone. Bill Weasley had disappeared in the Ural Mountains while there wasn't even a whisper of evidence as to where Ron had been sent. No one in the top offices wanted to divulge where they had sent him in case he was still trying to complete it. Hermione looked at the newest people that had been added to the missing list, Susan Bones, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, Oliver Wood, Lee Jordan and Parvati Patil. So many of her old school friends were appearing on the list every day that Hermione wondered whether there would be anyone at their five year reunion. She sadly crossed their names off the list posted of those that were on active missions. The way the war seemed to be going from where Hermione sat it looked bad. How could they have sent so many out and only had one person return?  
  
She sat and began to write to Lee Jordan's parents to tell them their son was missing. He had been gone only two days, it wasn't even a week since he had gotten his draft letter. Hermione had been given a draft letter but she had discovered she was pregnant and her draft was called off. She had been so happy when she was told that she was carrying Ron's baby. It was like she could finish part of the dream he had shared with her. Mr and Mrs Weasley had been overjoyed with the news, their first grandchild. However as Hermione had learnt since her childhood, nothing lasts. She had been in Diagon alley shopping for the baby who had started to show, when the attack came. All she remembered about it was the blinding heat, the next thing she knew she was lying in St Mungo's a week later, empty. The attack that killed the baby was the most heinous crime that Voldemort ever perpetrated. It was a large scale curse that he knew would cause the most damage. It was an ancient curse which, Hermione hated to even think of what it did, it killed all children under the age of sixteen. It nearly destroyed them all, losing an entire generation of children, so many families were destroyed. He had cast the curse the week before the new Hogwarts year when he knew the most students would be around the alley. Hundreds died in the attack, no one could believe what had happened. Hogwarts became sort of a tomb; all the surviving students were so shocked about loosing so many of their friends and housemates. The teachers too had never dreamt that any attack would take that form. But it had and it appeared that the curse saw Hermione's foetus as a child too and it was taken from her. What Voldemort had failed to foresee was that with their children killed all those wizards became more bent on justice and more joined the growing ranks of the army. They had nothing left to loose and everything to gain, everyone wanted their pound of flesh.  
  
The loss of the baby nearly killed Hermione too, if it hadn't been for Fred and George she would have quite gladly curled up and died there and then in the hospital room. The twins had made themselves her protectors. They lived next door to her and also helped her with the search. They were the only people now that could make her laugh and for the briefest of moments she would forget that she had lost Ron and the baby. In her heart she knew Ron was still alive, out there somewhere she knew he was fighting his way back to her like he had promised before he left her that Friday morning. She remembered the morning he had left her, after he was gone she wrapped herself in the cloak he had forgotten to bring with him and she just curled up there until Harry, Ginny and the twins came looking for her. She remembered how she would sit in the common room just looking out the window waiting for a flash of red hair to come running up the avenue into her arms. She hardly remembered her NEWTS but she got her 134% so somehow she struggled through them. She shut herself off from everyone as the days turned to weeks and then months. She wouldn't move from her window and once it was time for her to finally leave Hogwarts she still waited with her trunk by her side and Pig on her shoulder, the tiny owl seemed to miss Ron just as much as her. She had begun to slowly drift further away from Harry and Ginny, who both were in the safe bubble of love while she mourned and waited for news. Harry did genuinely miss Ron, how could he not? But Harry had someone to love him someone to confide in. Hermione had no one. She had told her parents that she was staying in Diagon Alley for the summer. They hadn't complained; they just wanted to see their daughter smile again. So she had gone to Diagon Alley, she had wandered up and down it for hours passing the hotel she had consummated her marriage in several times before she found herself standing in the middle of the Twins joke shop. She had lived with them for a little while until she found her flat.  
  
Hermione was woken from her trance like state by a sharp knock on the door.  
  
"Mrs Weasley?" the voice said; she knew who it was. Percy, he insisted on calling her Mrs Weasley, sometimes she wondered was it just that he had forgotten her first name because she was only a lowly clerk.  
  
"Yes Percy, I mean yes Mr Weasley, how can I be of help?" she said as he stood before her desk which looked like it would buckle from the weight of paper on it. Percy cleared his throat and looked at her over the top of his thick glasses. Each time she met him she swore he got more pompous.  
  
"Well Mrs Weasley. It's just that we want you to stop writing to the families; we don't want anymore reports going out that we have lost anyone else. Bad for morale you know. As far as the press and the public are concerned we are working at prime efficiency. Do you understand?" Percy said solemnly.  
  
"You mean to say that I am to let all these families believe their loved ones are safe and well while we really have no clue if they are alive or dead!" she said slamming her quill down. She slapped the desk so hard Percy's eyes flinched.  
  
"You shall continue to search for them of course. William and Ronald being the main operatives we need to locate. But I must add that none of what you do here should be discussed outside these office walls. Understand?" he said with a fake air of authority. She knew he meant here that she was not to mention the fact that the search for Bill and Ron was being scaled down to any of the other Weasley's. Hermione felt her blood begin to boil.  
  
"I understand more then you think Percy. But I would quite like to find my husband and brother-in-law." She said her face now turning a violent shade of red.  
  
"They're dead. Hermione if they were alive they would have found a way to get in touch with us. Bill is nearly gone eighteen months and Ron has been gone a year. If they were alive they would have apperated or sent an owl." Percy said softly as even he tried to come to terms with the loss of his older and younger brother. Hermione's jaw set when she heard him speak.  
  
"They are not dead! If they were dead we would have bodies. I am not going to stop looking for them." She said sharply, her eyes burning with anger. Percy looked at her and nodded, how could he argue with her? He smiled softly at her and left without another word. When she was again alone in her office she felt tears swell in her eyes. No one had ever been so blunt no one had ever dared said they were dead to her. She knew some people believed the two missing Weasley's were dead. She remembered when they had found Charlie's body; Ron had still been with her. Charlie had been sent to Estonia searching for signs of Wormtail. Hermione had seen his body. He looked untouched; he looked as if he was simply sleeping. She wondered if they found Ron would he simply look as if he was sleeping. She shuddered, she wouldn't think like that. When she found him he would be safe, perhaps a little hurt but he was fine. He would come home and they would begin to live the life he had told her about the morning they had gotten married.  
  
***************************flashback**********************************  
  
"You're not coming back are you? What ever you are about to do, where ever you are going you're not coming back? Are you?" she said. His smile left him. He knew he could never lie to her. He bowed his head. The moment Dumbledore had told him he had known he wasn't going to make it back. Dumbledore had given him a choice but he knew that if he succeeded in this mission, Hermione and Ginny would have an easier life, maybe he would even help Harry.  
  
"I don't know. Mione listen to me. No matter what happens I will try come back to you. I love you, I think I always have." He said as he saw her eyes fill with tears.  
  
"Friday is only two day's away." she said fighting to keep the tears from spilling. He nodded sadly and leant against the bark of the tree.  
  
"You know I had dreamt that you and I would finish school and then go work in the ministry. You of course would be my boss, and we would eventually get married. I can imagine you as Mrs Ron Weasley. Then after we had both got our promotions, we would have a little one. Maybe a boy or twins. Yeah twins, one boy one girl, we'd call them William, after your dad and Constance but we would just call her Connie. Then maybe after a few years we would have more only three more mind. I want a big family; lots of laughter and playing. Then when all the kids had grown and were happy we would live in the south of France near a vine yard and lavender fields. We would just sit there looking out on the vast countryside and be happy. Harry would come and visit with Ginny and we would sit and laugh about what we got up to in Hogwarts. But I suppose there's no point dreaming about that now." Ron sighed softly; a tear was escaping down his cheek as he imagined the life they were being robbed of fade from his view.  
  
****************************end flashback******************************  
  
Hermione looked at the list of their missing and nearly cried. How could she not write to the six new missing agents families and tell them that they should brace themselves for a long wait. She sighed as she decided to go for a cup of coffee. She wandered down the long grey corridor passing frosted glass doors with varying names. She continued on to the small canteen where she bought a cup of weak coffee and a half stale scone. It was the first thing she had eaten all day and was often the only thing. She knew it wasn't healthy, she never missed meals on purpose, and she only missed them because she was too busy chasing dead end leads on Ron or Bill. She picked at the raisins left on the small plate and tried to imagine what her life would have been like if she was just a normal girl. She would be in university now, Oxford of course. She would be studying to be a doctor or a dentist, but she was a witch. On some level she had always known she would never be normal and when she saw the red ink on the envelope she had received the summer before first year she knew that normal was never even an option for her. She felt soft large hands on her shoulder and she smiled. Only one person touched her like that.  
  
"Hey George. When are you going to quit trying to sneak up on me?" She said without looking around her shoulder. She heard her brother-in-law sigh and sit next to her.  
  
"I'll stop the day I eventually do sneak up on you. So any news today?" he asked the same question everyday and there was always the same answer. Hermione shook her head sadly. She was sure that if she could just find out where Ron had been sent she would be able to locate him.  
  
"So what brings you here today?" she asked as she took a sip of her coffee.  
  
"Ginny wants us to come to dinner tonight. Some big announcement. Mum and Dad have been invited, even Percy." George sighed as he played with a small sachet of sugar.  
  
"Percy? Is he actually coming?" she asked raising an eyebrow expertly. George smiled at the expression on her face.  
  
"Oh yes. One must understand that Mr and Mrs Potter are not to be refused. Surely you know that Mrs Weasley." He said mimicking Percy's condescending voice perfectly. Hermione smiled and chuckled softly.  
  
"Fred and I were wondering if you want a drink in the pub first. One for the nerves you know. It could be a long night! Percy and Dad nearly killed each other last time they were in the same room together. Then there's this announcement!" George said rolling his eyes. He loved his sister dearly and he saw Harry as another younger brother but even George had to admit that they had chosen to forget awfully quickly that Charlie was dead and that Ron and Bill were missing.  
  
"I would love to have a drink first. We could go into Muggle London for a change?" she suggested. Hermione liked the muggle cities they were the few places she could wander around and not have someone rush over to her to ask a million questions about Ron. She didn't mind them coming up but the fact that the questions they asked had no answers yet made her feel and look stupid.  
  
"Yeah, I haven't had a decent pint of Guinness since we went into it last." George said as he fixed his dragon skin jacket. Hermione smiled as she thought about how nice it would be to go somewhere no one knew her name.  
  
"Okay I'll meet you and Fred at eight on the muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron." She smiled as George rose to leave.  
  
"Excellent. I'll see you later Mione." George said clapping his hands together. Hermione looked at him shocked; no one except Ron had ever called her Mione.  
  
"Why did you call me Mione?" she said standing before the twin now who looked puzzled.  
  
"I don't know, Mione just slipped out. Do you not like that nick name? I think its cute." He said shrugging his shoulders.  
  
"Oh it's nothing; it's just that Ron was always calling me Mione." She said as she kissed her brother-in-laws cheek.  
  
"I'll see you later 'kay?" she said sadly as she went back to her office wondering why they were being summoned to the Potter estate. She hoped it was good news, after everything that had happened to her Hermione couldn't bear any more bad news.  
  
Hermione went home early that day. It was pointless staying at work. She was just faced with more names to add to the missing list and she couldn't bear the fact that they were not contacting families now. Oliver Wood's and Katie Bell's families were the worst. The two ex-captains had been seeing each other and were due to get married in a few weeks. They had been sent on what was thought to be an easy operation, re-con mostly but they had vanished and no one could say where they had gone. So many stories like that landed on Hermione's desk everyday and she was none the wiser as to where all these people were going. The only piece of good news she had received in the last week was that Bellatrix and three Dementors had been found dead in St Petersburg in Russia. It appeared that Bellatrix had been hexed several months before, no one knew who had carried out the op but rumours that it was Harry had been rife. Hermione thought that possible, it was Bellatrix that stole Sirius from them; Harry may have gone after her. Maybe that was the announcement, he had killed Bellatrix. She shook her head, if it had been him, he would have told her months ago when it happened. She soaked in the bath trying to think of what agents they had sent to Russia. Bill? No he was on the wrong side of the country. Padma Patil had been sent to Russia but Hermione was sure she had been sent to Moscow. Then the lurking suspicions that maybe it had been Ron. It could have been; she had never known where they had sent him, why couldn't he have been sent to St Petersburg?  
  
After three drinks in London, Hermione, Fred and George apperated into Harry's living room. Mr and Mrs Weasley were there already and Percy was standing silently in the corner with Penelope Clearwater. Harry and Ginny smiled and welcomed the three late comers as they went into the dining room. Harry and Ginny's home was lavishly decorated and Hermione wondered if the Queen had such furniture. Harry looked happy, really happy for the first time in years as Hermione watched him throw her excited glances, which made her a little uneasy. When ever he had that look in his eye it usually meant that she would have to get him and Ron out of trouble. As they all sat down plates of food appeared. Dobby; Hermione knew that the freed house elf worked for Harry for five knuts a week and half a day off, it made the elf happy and Harry liked knowing he was looked after. As they ate their soup Hermione caught Ginny giving her excited glances as well that made her a little uneasy. What was going on?  
  
"Did you hear the good news we got this morning Harry?" Percy said avoiding his father's eyes as if they would turn him to stone.  
  
"Bellatrix yes I got the owl from Fudge. It is good news." Harry said not looking at Percy directly. Instead he looked at Hermione who was starting to feel self conscious.  
  
"Okay enough. What is with the side ward glances from the two of you?" Hermione said looking at the two Potter's. They looked at her and smiled at each other.  
  
"We got another owl today. It was from Lupin. He has been travelling in Eastern Europe and he happened upon something. We called you all here to tell you that we found a lead on Bill and Ron." Harry said quickly. Mrs Weasley clasped her husbands hand tightly. Hermione's breath stopped in anticipation. The three Weasley sons sat forward in shock.  
  
"Lupin followed the lead to a Muggle hospital in Riga where he found two unidentified men in serious condition, near death really. He found Ron and Bill. He is bringing them back to St Mungo's within the next hour." Harry said laughing. Hermione paled. They had found Ron. She felt warm tears flow down her face. She couldn't move or make a sound as she heard the words over and over in her head 'he found Ron and Bill.' It was like a dream come true. She heard Mrs Weasley cry with joy and the twins thanking a higher power. Percy sat in a stunned silence, tears of happiness falling down his face.  
  
"We had better go to St Mungo's immediately!" Mr Weasley said standing almost instantly he and his wife vanished. Ginny came to Hermione's side and sat next to her.  
  
"Are you okay? I am sorry we didn't tell you about Lupin earlier, we had to make sure. We have been searching for months you know, we just didn't want to build up peoples hopes." Ginny said softly as she put her arm around Hermione.  
  
"The baby. What will Ron say when he knows I lost his baby?" Hermione said stunned.  
  
"He won't blame you. How can he? It wasn't your fault."  
  
"But it was. I shouldn't have been in Diagon Alley; I should have been at home protecting the baby. He'll hate me." She said hollowly. Ginny held her sister-in-law tight in her arms.  
  
"Ron will not blame you. Come on your husband needs to see you. Lupin said they were waking up when he had given them the healing potion." Ginny sighed softly. Hermione felt nervous as the two of them vanished and reappeared in a startlingly white room with two beds. The Weasley family surrounded the two beds excitedly. Molly looked at Hermione and smiled as she stood out of the way. There he was. Hermione had dreamt about seeing him again for so long that she had begun to doubt even his existence, maybe he had just been a dream. His red hair had grown long and she saw that one of the nurses had just shaved him. He was still asleep. Bill was in the next bed and his eyes were fighting to open.  
  
"Mum." A weak whisper came from Bill as he reached for his mother's hand. Mrs Weasley wept tears of happiness as she stroked his hair. As they all surrounded the two beds a doctor came in.  
  
"Ok these two need some rest only the parents and partners allowed everyone else can wait in the family room." The doctor said; everyone left mumbling but happy in the knowledge that the surviving Weasley family were together again.  
  
"Mrs Weasley, can I have a word." Hermione blanched as he took her to one side.  
  
"Your husband has been injured quite badly; no he is very badly injured. I am surprised he even survived to be brought to a muggle hospital. He will be okay but you must be aware that it will take time for him to be back to full health. He has been in what the Muggles called a coma for almost ten months, his muscles have grown weak. We can give him potions but he will need exercise and a cane to walk with for a while." The doctor said; he smiled as he saw the look of relief on her face.  
  
"So he will be okay?" she asked her voice soft. The doctor nodded.  
  
"He should wake up soon; the potion we gave him is healing him quickly. But don't tell him everything at once, it may be too much. The attack he suffered was an unforgivable he should be dead, I have only seen one other person survive that sort of curse. You husband must have picked up some of the Potter traits hanging out with Harry." The doctor said smiling. Hermione nearly laughed. The doctor left her and went to Bill's side who was now trying to sit up and was smiling as his mother and father fussed over him. Hermione went and sat next to Ron. She slowly reached out to touch him, his skin was soft and warm under her finger.  
  
"Hey. You took your time coming home. You didn't even buy me flowers." She whispered laughing at herself. She clasped his hand tight in hers. She felt his squeeze it in his and she nearly started to cry again. But she knew the last thing Ron wanted to see was her crying. No when he opened his eyes he would see her smiling down on him. His ginger eyelash's slowly rose and his blue eyes looked up at her blurrily.  
  
"Mione? I knew I'd see you again." His voice was hoarse and dry. She smiled and nodded. He was awake.  
  
"Bill, is Bill here?" Ron asked trying to sit up, wondering where his older brother was.  
  
"Yeah he's in the next bed. Oh god Ron I never gave up hope." Hermione said as she kept her eyes on her husband. He smiled up at her.  
  
"Well I did tell you I'd come back. I've missed you." He said looking into Hermione's misting brown eyes. She couldn't resist it anymore and she leant down and kissed him.  
  
"I've missed you too." She said as she ran her hand over his forehead. As she brushed the long hair of his forehead she stopped.  
  
"You have a scar!" she said as she looked at the lightening scar over his right eye.  
  
"I do? Well I did survive an Avada Kedavra curse. Still not sure how though." Ron said softly. Mr and Mrs Weasley came to their youngest sons bed side as Bill nodded back to sleep.  
  
"Mum, Dad. Hey." He said as he smiled at the crying pair. They threw their arms around his neck and smiled insanely as they wiped tears from their eyes.  
  
"Ron we thought we'd never..." Mr Weasley stopped when he too saw the scar. He touched it and smiled.  
  
"Well done my son." He said smiling as he sat next to the bed. Ron yawned and they sat around the room silently as Ron drifted of to sleep. Hermione and Mr and Mrs Weasley fell asleep there in the room between the two sleeping Weasley boys. Hermione woke when someone stroked her hair softly. She stirred softly and slowly woke. She turned to see Ron smiling at her.  
  
"I thought it was a dream. I thought I had only dreamt you coming back to me." She said as he continued to stroke her hair softly.  
  
"No, you'll never get rid of me. Hermione, how have you been these past few months?" he asked as she looked up at him sadly.  
  
"I was drafted about two months after you left. But I couldn't go I was pregnant."  
  
"We have a baby?" he cut in excitedly, but when he saw her eyes fill with tears he stopped and let her continue.  
  
"I was five months pregnant and I was in Diagon Alley buying things for the baby. Voldemort attacked the Alley with an ancient curse. The curse killed children. I woke up a week later and a doctor told me the curse had taken our baby too. I am so sorry Ron. I couldn't protect it. You must hate me." Hermione said tears falling freely down her face. Ron looked at her his eyes too filled with tears.  
  
"Oh Mione, don't be sorry it wasn't your fault. I'd never hate you." He said as he wiped her tears with his soft fingers.  
  
"I love you Mione." He whispered to her as she silently continued to cry for their lost child.  
  
"I love you to Ron." She said as she kissed her husband.  
  
Hermione slept in the hospital next to Ron for a week snuggling up close to him on the narrow single bed, but he didn't complain, they would lie there with their arms tight around each other loving the feel of having the other back.  
  
She was accosted by reporters as she left one morning to get to the office where she was being briefed by some of the top agents.  
  
"Is it true that Ron Weasley survived an Unforgivable?" one reporter shouted.  
  
"Is it true he has a similar scar now as Harry Potter?" another shouted. Hermione just marched past them silently and she continued to walk silently smiling to herself to the office. She climbed the narrow stairs and entered the dark office where three men she had never seen before sat looking over files.  
  
"Mrs Weasley, excellent may we say congratulations. I am sure there shall be a hell of a party in the Burrow sometime soon." One of the agents said, his accent was very posh and he was dressed in muggle clothes.  
  
"Sorry I didn't get your name Mr?" she said taking a seat in front of the three men. The agent smiled and nodded.  
  
"I am Mr William Knox. I am with MI5, yes before you ask; we Muggles have a branch with your ministry." Mr Knox said as he looked over at the other two. One of whom Hermione knew to see, he worked down in the Department of Mysteries. He was older then her by about ten years.  
  
"Hermione, we were wondering if you had figured out how Ron survived the Avada Kedavra?" the wizard agent said softly as if he was afraid of his own voice. She shook her head, she hadn't even thought about how he had survived it. She had just been so glad to have him back.  
  
"We think you had a role in his survival. Professor Dumbledore told us that on the morning Ronald left you he made a vow to come back, correct?" He said in the same whispered voice. Hermione nodded her reply.  
  
"Excellent, we believe the fact he made the vow gave him an edge on the curse, he didn't escape unscathed like Mr Potter but he did soften its blow."  
  
"Soften the blow! He nearly died!" Hermione said sitting on the edge of her seat.  
  
"Yes he nearly died. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of wizards and witches have died because of it. Now we have the only two people ever known to survive it to interview. Harry Potter was too young to even recall it but Ronald he should remember." The wizard agent said softly.  
  
"You shall not interview him until he is fit and well." She snapped. The three men looked at her and understood the reputation she had for not being a witch to cross.  
  
"There is no need to interview him, we have all the information we need, we just wanted you to see it too." The agent said in his hoarse whisper.  
  
"See it?" Hermione asked arching an eyebrow. The three men looked at each other and nodded.  
  
"Watch." He rasped as he wove his wand causing sliver swirls to appear, as the smoky wisps became more solid pictures could be seen. She was looking through Ron's eyes. He was fighting Dementors, there were three of them, tall and black hovering above someone, Bill. Ron raised his wand and sliver strands shot out, it wasn't a stag like Harry's no, his patrons was Hermione, a slivery whispery figure which was clearly her. The Dementors back off. She watched as Ron ran to his fallen brother's side. She felt the relief on seeing he was still alive. She watched as another figure appeared in the vision. Bellatrix, she was wearing a long black cloak with a strange gold insignia. Hermione heard the cold laughter and the Avada Kedavra being called. She saw Ron close his eyes and heard the one thought running through his mind as the curse hit him 'Hermione. I promised her.' She heard him repeat that over and over again as he fell to his knees pain engulfing him. She watched as Bellatrix came closer and stood over him. Suddenly the pain was forgotten, not gone just forgotten and with his failing strength he pulled out his wand and repeated the curse on her. Hermione heard the death eaters scream. She watched as Ron dragged Bill away from the building, the pain growing as he moved. Once he made it to the street he passed out.  
  
"You see Mrs Weasley. You are the reason he is still alive. You may also be the one who has helped us discover how to fight the curse. Both Harry and Ron survived the curse because of love. Harry's mother loved him so much she died for him. You and Ron, you are soul mates, true untainted love that is the key to fight the dark side." The third agent said softly. Hermione smiled and stood up.  
  
"That's great but it's not going to help the hundred odd we have missing already. I personally shall begin the searches, I am fairly sure you haven't tried Muggle hospitals. Since Ron and Bill have been in one for the last ten months!" with that she spun on her heel leaving the three men stunned.  
  
Three weeks later Ron came home to the flat, which Hermione had spent time making more homely. She felt so nervous opening the door to let him in for the first time. He smiled at her as he put one arm around her thin waist and he went to lift her into the air.  
  
"Ron, you're not well enough." She complained as he dropped his cane to one side. But he gave her a broad grin and scooped her up into his arms dramatically. There was no denying it Ron was back to his full health.  
  
"I shall carry my wife over the threshold of our home." He said as he carried her through into the living room where they both flopped down onto the large red couch. He kissed her neck and held her tight to him. 'Home' she thought, yes the tiny flat felt more like home now she had him there, it seemed less grey, less barren.  
  
"Mrs Weasley. How are you?" he said smiling at her in his arms. She giggled up at him as he ran his fingers through her wavy long hair.  
  
"Happy for the first time in a year. I want you to promise me something though." She said knelling on the couch looking into his eyes. He smiled and nodded, he loved looking at her face, it could be so animated; so hard to read if you didn't know her. He had been afraid that their year apart had changed them both but nothing had changed, he could still read every flicker of emotion.  
  
"You can never, ever leave again without me." She said as he played with the button on her blouse. She couldn't help but smile as he slipped his fingers in between the buttons and began to tickle her. They had hardly stopped touching each other since he woke up, both afraid that once they let go the other would drift off never to be seen again.  
  
"I swear on all that is holy I shall never ever let you out of my sight again." He said as she felt him kiss where her heart beat. She smiled and for the first time since she moved into the flat she felt she was at home as her husband made love to her. 


End file.
